Late last year we reviewed BMW's i3, a range-extended plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) that impressed us despite its high price and limited range. That car is one half of BMW's i Project, a sub-brand created to showcase the company's vision of sustainable mobility. The i8 is the other half. It's a plug-in hybrid sports car made from carbon fiber and aluminum. As such, it looks like very little else on the road.
But if this is what sports cars are going to be like in the future, we're in for a real treat.
VIDEO: We explain just why the BMW i8 impressed us so much. Edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)Design
Like its smaller city car sibling, the i8 combines a Life Module (the bit you sit in) made out of carbon fiber joined to aluminum Drive Modules (the bits that make it go) clothed in thermoplastic body panels. Unlike the i3, it's a low-slung machine. The Drive modules are mated to the front and back of the Life Module, and the car's 7.1kWh lithium-ion batteries run along the car's centerline (between the seats). Large butterfly doors open up-and-out, imbuing the car with even more visual drama—something it wasn't really lacking to begin with. This is a car that attracts attention. Introverts beware.
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